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The Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) has declared Stage 4 water pumping restrictions for groundwater permit holders in the San Antonio Pool.
The ten-day average at the J-17 index well was at 629 feet above mean sea level on Wednesday, just below the trigger mark for Stage 4 restrictions, according to EAA officials.
A long drought continues despite heavy rains and flooding in the San Antonio area and Hill Country this past June and July. Canyon Lake, like the aquifer, is also on the way down again.
The pool serves groundwater pumpers in Medina, Bexar, and parts of Atascosa, Caldwell, Guadalupe, Comal, and Hays counties, such as cities and agricultural interests. Under Stage 4, they must reduce their permitted water pumping by 40%.
The aquifer serves more than 2 million people. The underground porous limestone reservoir, stretches west from San Antonio to Uvalde and north from San Antonio to south of Austin.
The EAA said residents of municipalities should follow the water restrictions of their local water provider. For example, the San Antonio Water System will follow the EAA's Stage 4 declaration to reduce pumping, but its customers remain under Stage 3 because the water utility draws on other water sources outside the aquifer.
Under Stage 3, SAWS customers can only water their yards by automated sprinkler once a week based on street address and only between the hours of 5 a.m. and 10 a.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight. Watering by handheld hose is permitted at any time.
The aquifer authority also regulates pumping from the Uvalde Pool of the aquifer west of San Antonio, but a separate set of staged water restrictions are applied.
